2020 Pacific typhoon season
The 2020 Pacific Typhoon Season was the beginning of the end for many of the countries in the Western Pacific, as, thanks to a small-scale war that somehow caused methane releases in the Arctic Basin, global temperatures skyrocketed, producing hurricanes that reached levels never before seen. The strongest was a super typhoon named Noelani, which reached the city of Tokyo as a 4,500-mile-wide, 500-mph storm system. Other notorious hurricanes included Kajiki, a Category 7 typhoon that hit Hong Kong on August 7, 2020, and Typhoon Jared, a Category 7 typhoon that hit Tacloban, Philippines. Background Global temperatures were already 0.2*C warmer than in 2014 due to global warming thanks in part to increased levels of CO2 because of a more technologically advanced world, which led to a minor increase in hurricane strength and, more surprisingly, in frequency, with the world gaining "two extra tropical storms," according to one climatologist. The Pacific Typhoon Season was expected to be a normal season, with the National Weather Service predicting that there would be 20 total storms, 12 of which would turn into hurricanes, with two of them expected to be a major storm. But, in late-February of 2014, a small-scale war between the US and Russia, in a battle called "Battle of the Arctic" (caused by tensions over who has rights to the oil in the Arctic), caused methane hydrates to rupture, releasing an estimated 50 gigatons (approximately 50 billion metric tons) of methane to be released from the ocean. Due to methane being an incredibly powerful greenhouse gas (it is between 20 to 34 times more powerful than Carbon Dioxide is), the Arctic warmed to the point that more ice melted, releasing more methane reserves and beginning a global apocalypse. The tremendous amounts of methane caused global temperatures to skyrocket, increasing ocean temperatures and causing intense storms to increase in intensity and size, and also causing sea levels to rise quickly. Due to the fact that the Western Pacific is the largest area of warm ocean water in the world, it was particularly vulnerable to major storm systems. Storms Tropical Storm Agyang Agyang was a major tropical storm that hit Luzon full force, producing floods that killed 50 people. Tropical Depression 02 Didn't affect land. Tropical Storm Damrey A tropical storm that didn't affect land at all. Tropical Storm Jebi A major tropical storm that hit Mindanao, Philippines, killing over 100 people. Typhoon Carl Was the first typhoon of the season; it didn't hit land. Tropical Storm Ulani Didn't hit land. Typhoon Beth Didn't hit land, but its rainbands killed 7 in Taiwan. Typhoon Danny Typhoon Danny was a major storm system that formed because of warmer-than-usual waters hundreds of miles east of the Philippines. It hit the country full-force, killing 20 people. Typhoon Erani Typhoon Erani formed on April 15, 1,000 miles east of the Philippines. The storm system was notorious for being the first super typhoon of the season. It slammed into Hong Kong as a 400-mile-wide, Category 3 typhoon, with 125 mph (200 km/h) winds and a 20-foot (6-meter) storm surge, killing 100 people and injuring over 1,900 others in and around Hong Kong. Damages reached over $10 billion. Typhoon Erin Typhoon Erin was the first Category 5 typhoon of the season. It formed from a monsoonal trough on May 12, and water temperatures exceeding 86*F (30*C) caused the typhoon to rapidly intensify. It reached its peak intensity on May 18. It began to weaken as it moved north, but trade winds carried the typhoon all the way to Japan at a speed of up to 30 mph (48 km/h). It slammed into Kyushu as a 400-mile-wide, low-end Category 5 typhoon on May 20, killing over 2,000 people in Japan, of which over 400 perished in Kumamoto City. Most died from the major storm tide that affected much of Shikoku and Kyushu, but hundreds did die from flash floods, high winds, and landslides. Damages reached over $40 billion in damage. Typhoon Erin was the worst natural disaster in Japanese history since the 2011 Tohoku tsunami. Typhoon Faith An intense storm that, fortunately, missed land. Tropical Depression 10 Never hit land. Typhoon Gaemi Typhoon Gaemi was notorious for being the deadliest Philippines typhoon up until Typhoons Jared and Noelani hit the Philippines. The storm intensified from Category 3 to Category 5 strength between June 17 and June 18, since it was close to the equator. It hit Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines with 195-mph (315 km/h) winds. Due to the fact that it was enormous (hurricane-force winds extended as far north as 100 miles from the 25-mile-wide eye), the hurricane caused tremendous floods all over the island. Worse, the massive storm produced a storm surge exceeding 25 feet, which moved nearly seven miles inland at a speed of up to 20 mph, killing 8,000 people. The storm moved over the island, and then it hit Haiphong, Vietnam, as a Category 4 typhoon, with 150 mph (240 km/h) winds, killing over 500 people. Typhoon Haigon A weak storm that didn't hit land at all. Tropical Storm Iggi A tropical storm that didn't affect land either. Typhoon Jared Typhoon Jared was notorious for being the first typhoon to reach wind speeds of 200 mph (320 km/h) and beyond. It formed 400 miles east of Pohnpei Island on July 14, moving at a speed of 5 mph for two days. The storm reached typhoon-force on July 16, eventually hitting Pohnpei Island as a high-end Category 1 typhoon, with 90-mph (145 km/h) winds and a seven-foot storm surge, killing 10 people. The storm system then intensified twice: first from a high-end Category 1 to a high-end Category 3 typhoon between July 17 and July 18 (which increased the storm's forward speed to 10 mph), and then from low-end Category 4 to high-end Category 5 typhoon between July 19 to July 20 (increasing the forward speed to 20 mph). Jared then slammed into the Philippines at peak strength on July 24, with wind speeds of 205 mph (330 km/h) in its 30-mile-wide radius of maximum winds. The storm system, which had hurricane-force winds extend 135 miles (217 km) from the eye and tropical-gale-force winds extending 300 miles (480 km) from the eye, produced a massive storm surge of up to 40 feet (12 meters), which flooded inland at up to 20 mph, killing over 20,000 in Tacloban, Guiuan, and other cities in Leyte. The storm killed thousands more across the rest of the region, and its massive size helped cause floods in Manila, which killed hundreds. Total damages reached over $7.5 billion in economic losses, making Jared the costliest storm in Philippines history. The storm then slammed into Da Nang, Vietnam, as an intense, 400-mile-wide Category 5 hurricane, producing a 23-foot surge and 190-mph winds, killing over 2,000 in the country. 900 more died in Laos as a result of floods. Typhoon Kajiki Typhoon Kajiki was considered to be the strongest typhoon recorded, before Hurricane Harold was recorded to have had the highest wind speeds. Typhoon Kajiki hit Hong Kong as a 600-mile-wide typhoon, with wind speeds of 230 mph (370 km/h) and producing a storm surge of 40 feet (12 meters), which flooded into the city at a speed of up to 20 mph. The storm surge and the 230 mph winds killed a total of 20,000 people in and around Hong Kong, and causing over $500 billion in damage. Thousands of homes were devastated, and over one million were left homeless. Typhoon Lieron A weak typhoon that didn't hit land. Typhoon Pulp Typhoon Pulp was the most intense storm system up until the likes of Typhoon Noelani, Hurricane Michael, and Cyclone Minnie formed. It formed on August 12, after a major low-pressure trough moved into an area approximately 500 miles east-southeast of Luzon. The storm formed over 95*F waters, causing the storm to quickly intensify into a hurricane over a process of 12 hours. The storm system continued to intensify, reaching Category 5 status four days after it formed. It slammed into the city of Shanghai after intensifying for two more days, producing a tropical-gale wind field extending 300 miles from the eye. The storm produced a 50-foot storm surge (which flooded up to ten miles inland), and the 235 mph (380 km/h) winds killed tens of thousands more. Overall, the typhoon killed over 250,000 in the region. Typhoon Minnie Typhoon Minnie was notorious because it formed from a low-pressure system just east of Palau on August 25. It reached super typhoon strength by the time it was 200 miles south of Mindanao, and continued to grow in strength and size. The storm was estimated to have packed winds of 415 mph (665 km/h) and a diameter of 1,500 miles by the time it was south of Bangkok, due to the Gulf of Thailand containing ocean temperatures exceeding 104*F (40*C), with waters exceeding 95*F (35*F) extending down to the bottom of the ocean floor in some places (which was 150 feet in much of the gulf). It slammed into the Gulf of Thailand with major gusts, and caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of destruction south of Bangkok. The storm then crossed into the Indian Ocean, where it would intensify into the strongest Indian Ocean Tropical Cyclone the region had ever recorded. It slammed into Kolkata on September 12 as a 1,500-mile-wide storm, with 390 mph (630 km/h) winds in its 30-mile-wide eyewall, killing over thirty-seven million people. Typhoon Noelani Typhoon Noelani formed on August 18, 250 miles east of the date line. With waters exceeding 110*F, and no vertical wind shear, the storm quickly grew to a super typhoon within hours, and it slammed into the Marshall Islands with 400-mph winds. It scraped across the ocean, growing in strength and size, until it hit Palau with 560-mph winds and a wind field extending for a diameter of 3,250 miles. The storm system continued to intensify, and by the next day, it reached its peak wind speed of 500 mph and a pressure of 467 millibars. The enormous rainbands of the storm caused tremendous floods in the Philippines, killing millions of people. The storm then swung to the east, and on September 11, it slammed into Japan as a 4,500-mile-wide storm system, killing millions of people. It then moved west, slamming into Russia and North Korea. It then moved inland, through parts of Northern China, killing millions more. It then moved to the northeast, finally dissipating on September 21. The storm system left a total of 95,000,000 dead throughout its path, and left millions more to die of starvation, disease, and treatable injuries. Typhoon Yagi Typhoon Yagi crossed into Philippines territory on October 6. As it crossed into the region, the storm system moved south of Luzon, and slammed into Manila at peak strength, with 235 mph (380 km/h) winds and a diameter of 350 miles (560 km/h), killing 100,000 people in and around Manila. Tropical Storm Pango Didn't hit land. Coincided with Tropical Depressions 24 and 25. Tropical Depression 24 Didn't hit land. Tropical Depression 25 Didn't hit land. Aftermath Much of the Western Pacific was left devastated by the massive typhoons, in the same way that the Atlantic Basin suffered a similar fate. By the end of the season, hundreds of millions of people had been killed, injured, and/or left homeless. Sea level rise had caused massive changes to many of the coastlines, and worse, disease and famine led to major riots, and even small wars, that devastated China, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The biosphere of the countries began to suffer from floods, droughts, and other major problems. Japan was especially devastated, due to the fact that Noelani struck the country full force. By the end of the decade, it is estimated that out of the 50% of the human race that will die, about 70% of the deaths will come from the Western Pacific, many from China, the Philippines, and even Vietnam, due to climate change-related events. The winter of 2020-2021 was devastating to the region, as major blizzards and typhoons still caused major problems in the region. See Also *2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season (Disasters GoOn's version) *2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season (Disasters GoOn's Version) *2021-2022 South-West Indian Ocean Cyclone Season (Disasters GoOn's Version) *2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season (Disasters GoOn's version) Category:Hypothetical Disasters Category:Hypothetical Hurricanes Category:Future Hurricanes Category:Typhoons Category:Super Typhoon Category:Hypercanes Category:Future Events Category:Future disasters Category:Events in the 2020s Category:Hurricanes